Shadow Queen
by TunaForDesert
Summary: Haizaki scoffed, "Please, this is them we're talking about. Tetsuya won't let anyone touch his best pieces, especially the Knight and the King. So you better keep your hands for yourself and enjoy the show."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I solemnly swear I do not own KnB._  
_

Start chapter.

* * *

_Clear blue eyes swept across the classroom, intend on finding something. Kuroko hid a weary sigh as once again he could not find the one he was looking for. He closed the door and walked to another door. Still the same result as the last fifteen minutes, as well._

'_Seriously, where is he? It's not like he's gone somewhere without my permission, does he? How daring…..'_

"_Tetsuya?" a voice mixed of confusion and incredulous called out to the short third year. Kuroko turned around and his lips twitched upward slightly._

"_Haizaki-kun, I've been looking for you."_

_XXX_

_Haizaki squished down the urge to sigh or sulks like a five year old at the words. Nothing will ever come to his merit every time Tetsuya comes to him. It would be always about __**them**__. Them and them __**all the time**__ that Haizaki wanted to puke in disgust. What was so good about them? If it's talent, he's had it. __**So why them**__? But of course, being the good boy he was to Tetsuya, he wouldn't voice out the unfairness and only raised an eyebrow at the much smaller boy._

_Tetsuya smiled at him. No matter how small it was, that was the smile that had everyone tangled in between his small frail fingers. So, willing or not, Haizaki embraced the fact that yes, it will be about them again._

"_Haizaki-kun, you know how much of a precious you are to me, right?" Haizaki's eyes widened. He looked at the fragile picture on front of him, blinking in wonder. Did he really just hear that?_

"_Err…" the silver haired teen did not know how to respond to that. Tetsuya chuckled softly, fondly that it sent delicious shiver down Haizaki's spine. The taller male hid a groan at the sensation. Damn Tetsuya for having such effect on him._

"_Ah, you're so beautiful." Haizaki's eyes widened once again at the words. He looked in front of him, but the small boy was no longer there. Suddenly, a small hand grasped his wrist and he was slammed against the wall, not painfully, fortunately._

"_What the-" _

"_Shougo," Tetsuya's voice was lowered, and the blue haired boy whispered Haizaki's first name right to the taller male's left ear. Haizaki gasped at the almost none existent distance between their body. Tetsuya had pushed his small body to Haizaki's well-built one, creating a slight compromising position if anyone were to walk on them. The small teen had one of his slim legs between Haizaki's legs._

_The ex-member of basketball club bit his lower lip to supress a groan. If any member of the Kiseki no Sedai walk on them like this, especially Akashi, he'd never make it tomorrow alive._

"_W-what are you doing, Tetsuya?" he could not help but to ask. Tetsuya raised his head, staring intently right into Haizaki's eyes._

"_I need your help."_

_Haizaki narrowed his eyes at the foreign words coming from this Tetsuya. It was so weird hearing such words from the blue haired teen. Normally they'd just go through whatever it was and be done with it. The formality turned alarm gear inside Haizaki's system._

"_And what's in it for me?"_

_Haizaki almost considered committing suicide when Tetsuya's blue eyes narrowed slightly at his words. Seriously, why did he ask such thing?! But Tetsuya seemed to have something in mind as he softened gaze, and gave Haizaki a small smile._

"_As your reward for your help, you are allowed to stay with me longer."_

_Haizaki's breath almost cut to a halt. He's…allowed to? He looked straight to the blue sky eyes, searching for honesty behind the words. But the pale teen looked so damn convincing that Haizaki felt so helpless against this boy in front of him._

"_Anything you need, Tetsuya."_

XXX

_A few months later, Seirin High_

Haizaki sighed as he closed his cell. His body felt kind of numb because of lack of movement for the last two hours. Honestly, he could never understand how Tetsuya could stay still like this while reading those novels he loved too much. The library provided him little to none entertainment since hours ago. Well, it was Tetsuya's order for him to stay here until practice is over.

The freshman sighed and leaned against the chair he was sitting on, face staring upwards at the white ceiling. God, he was so goddamn bored. There was nobody to bother, unlike in middle school. But…maybe he could sneak a peek at the gym….

**No**, he still loved his life very much, thank you. Besides, basketball no longer held his interest. The only drive that kept him growing stronger in the sports was _that person_. As long as he could be a valuable piece on _his_ courts, then he would defeat every member of Kiseki no Sedai with his blood and sweat. But of course, he would never have that chance unless Tetsuya decides that he'd need a decent player on the courts. Those sorry excuses of basketball players were not even worth a glance compared to Akashi and the others.

"Fuck it…can life be more boring?"

"Don't say that, you'll jinx us."

Haizaki snapped his head downward, wide eyes staring at the person sitting in front of him since God-knows-when.

"W-when did you get here? No, that's not it. Why are you _here_? At _this_ school?" he stuttered.

Soft lilac eyes rolled inside their sockets. The white haired teen, only an inch or two shorter than Haizaki, scoffed softly as he propped an elbow and rested his chin on his palm.

"I've been here the entire time." Haizaki's eyebrow twitched at the familiar sentence. "And why I'm at this school is because Kuroko wanted me here. He's very demanding lately."

"You bet…" Haizaki muttered bitterly.

"What happened?"

Haizaki pretended not to hear the concern and slight anger in the other boy's voice, "It's **them**. Tetsuya's best pieces disappointed him so much that he'd taken drastic measure like this. I wonder why they're still fucking healthy and alive. Wait, that's a stupid question. Don't answer that." A breathy bitter chuckle escaped his lips.

The white haired teen also pretended not to hear the anguish, "How foolish of them. They've just lost Kuroko and they didn't even make effort to realize their mistakes. I won't ask what they are but if Kuroko is pressured like this, then it must've been something really inexcusable. I will make them pay…" the threat was simple and yet very horrendous to those who knew the wine eyed teen well. And unfortunately, Haizaki was one of them.

Haizaki scoffed, "Please, this is _them_ we're talking about. Tetsuya won't let anyone touch his best pieces, especially the Knight and the King. So you better keep your hands for yourself and enjoy the show."

The shorter teen frowned, "That sounds really dirty coming from you. Did you bring some of Aomine's disease with you to this school?"

"Hey!"

XXX

End chapter.

I have no idea how to proceed. I was just feeling like writing something and this popped out.

**Extra**: This was written a few months ago so...yeah, if I feel up to it, I'll update [meaning many reviews ;)].


	2. Chapter 2

Start chapter.

* * *

Kagami stole another distrustful look at his new teammate. The teen, known as Kuroko Tetsuya was claimed by the other members of the basketball club as a part of the Generation of Miracles. According to his fellow freshmen, the Generation of Miracles was a team full of prodigies of basketball from Teiko middle school. Kagami never heard of them before but he was sure that they were a bunch of really strong players, if their name indicated anything. His blood boiled in excitement at the prospect. Although, stealing another look at Kuroko (who was looking at them and doing absolutely _nothing_, the bastard), Kagami carefully not letting his hope high.

Kagami realized that Kuroko was looking at him with a glint in his eyes. The redhead decided not to say anything about that, mainly because he thought the teen was probably in awe toward him. Kagami was not conceited, but he had gathered his own fair share of admirers in middle school due to his somehow amazing (in Japanese standard, apparently) play in basketball. Not to mention his shocking red hair and nicely tanned and muscled body. But a little part of him, the wild side, was roaring in excitement. Kagami did not know what triggered that side of him, but he was sure that Kuroko had something to do with it.

Standing beside Kuroko or just simply near him made Kagami _excited_.

Why, the question still remained unanswered. But as he locked his gaze with Kuroko, a ghost smile appeared on the other teen's pale face. And Kagami knew, from instinct, that Kuroko was someone who was worth _following_.

XXX

"You've been…out of it since practice started. What's wrong?" Hyuga asked their resident coach. Riko had been silent since Kuroko introduced himself. There was almost absolutely nothing noteworthy about the freshman except for the fact that he apparently was a member of the Generation of Miracles. Oh that caused a racket, alright. But after that they had calmed down and began doing some light work.

"I'm sure you've heard of this rumor regarding the Generation of Miracles," Riko started.

Hyuga shot in another ball before taking another one, "You mean the phantom sixth man? Yes, there's a possibility that Kuroko is the one. But why are you so concern?"

Riko frowned, "Well, yes, that's the rumor. But I've heard of another one…and it's not particularly nice."

The captain stopped, turning to look at the coach with a comically confused face, "W-what is it? It's not a curse or something right? L-like, if we get a member of Generation of Miracles we're bound to be his slave for life."

"Idiot," Riko sighed, "It's nothing ridiculous like that. What I want to say is; there's another rumor about this legendary team. It is said, that if they have Akashi Seijuro, the King, then it is probable that they have a Queen. But there was none known. Apparently, each member of the Generation of Miracles also has nicknames based on chess pieces. Nobody knew who started that, but it had been confirmed somewhere near their second year. So if Akashi Seijuro is their King, who is the Queen? It was one of the most popular gossips about Generation of Miracles. A few months later, another rumor was started. It is said that the _phantom sixth man_ is the Queen, seeing as the other members already have their nicknames. "

"Somehow, this team is getting more ridiculous each time I heard about them," Hyuga said with a dry lopsided grin.

Riko shrugged, but an evil grin appeared on her face, "Don't you think it'll be exciting if Kuroko-kun really is the phantom sixth man? And also the Queen of the Generation of Miracles?"

Hyuga rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, and what's that about being not particularly nice?"

The coach's grin melted away as if she had just remembered that detail, "Well….if we go with the theory that the phantom sixth man is the Queen, then I want to tell you that he has an interesting nickname, but it doesn't sit well with me. It's like….the Queen is a silent manipulator."

Hyuga stopped shooting, looking at Riko with serious expression as the girl bit her lips before giving out the name that the Generation of Miracles reveled.

"Shadow Queen."

XXX

_Suzuran High School, 3:56 pm._

"Oi, Serizawa, if you're that worried, why don't we go to that fucking school and whisk Queen away from there?"

Serizawa Tamao glared at his subordinate, Tokaji Yuji, "Are you retarded? There's no way I'm letting Tetsuya enrolls here."

Tatsukawa Tokio, Serizawa's best friend snorted as he threw a dart at their makeshift dart board on the school's rooftop, "Yeah, I won't let that happen either. Queen deserves something dignified, not a delinquent school like ours. Besides, how do you suppose we protect him with this rising tension in our school right now?"

Tsutsumoto Shoji, another subordinate of Serizawa put in his two cent, "Yeah, don't be stupid, Tokaji. I heard that new guy, Genji, is pretty nasty. What do you think would happen if he knows about Queen?"

"He'll kidnap him to get King," Tokaji realized.

Serizawa snorted, "Don't be stupid. I, Serizawa Tamao, swear upon my name as the King of Suzuran, that I won't let that son of a bitch get anywhere near Tetsuya."

"Or there will be blood to pay. Lots of them," Shoji grinned his bloodthirsty smile.

Serizawa smirked.

"By the way," Tokio sat on the butchered couch, "Genji's been going around the school, recruiting."

Tokaji, as Serizawa's Army's brain, scowled in distaste, "They recently got Makise."

"What?!" Serizawa exclaimed, "That bastard never bow down to me even after I beat him an inch from his death! Then he let some new guy rules over him!?"

"Apparently," Shoji said.

Serizawa growled.

"Hey, Rindaman's visiting Queen today," Tokio grinned as Serizawa's killing intent multiplied at the mention of the lone wolf.

"THAT FUCKING BASTARD! IF HE TOUCHES EVEN A STRAND OF TETSUYA'S HAIR HE'S DEFINITELY GOING DOWN TOMORROW!"

XXX

A hooded figure peeked inside the empty gym. The tall teen's normally expressionless face twisted in distaste. He was hoping to see his Queen today, seeing as they hadn't got any chance to speak for the last two weeks. That stupid Serizawa had been taking all of Queen's time. But now the idiot was busy dealing with the new conflict involving the new sophomore, Genji. He had never been so grateful in his life that he was a neutral in the chaotic gang fight in Suzuran.

"Whoa, look who's here? It's Rin-chan~"

Rindaman's eye twitched at the irritating familiar voice. He composed his face into its normal blank state before turning to face the most irritating man after Serizawa in his list, Haizaki Shougo. The silver haired teen smirked widely. Rindaman hated that smirk very much, and the other teen knew it all too well.

"What are you doing here? Wait, let me guess, you're stalking Tetsuya."

Rindaman kept his perfectly neutral face, "Nothing of the sort that you do. I merely came here today to speak with Queen regarding some matter."

The orange haired teen hid his smirk as Haizaki sputtered, "I do NOT stalk Tetsuya!"

Rolling his eyes inwardly, Rindaman asked, "Where is he?"

"He's left, something interesting apparently happened today and he told me to wait here for your sorry ass. He knows you're coming."

"Why didn't he tell me himself?" the teen hid his disappointed voice well.

Haizaki rolled his eyes, "Because you wouldn't listen. And he wanted to be left uninterrupted for this week. So I suggest you and those fucking animals from Suzuran to stay the fuck away from Seirin."

Rindaman's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I'm not like those savages. Do not lump me together with them, trash."

"Whatever," Haizaki muttered as he turned around and signaled the taller teen to follow him, "Tetsuya told me to let you stay with me for the night. What the fuck? Doesn't he know that we're not actually getting along together? Or is this his punishment for that screwed date of his with Satsuki? What the hell, dude? That was like, half a year ago."

Rindaman hid a grin, "We all know Queen is not fond of anyone who makes a girl cry."

"Shut the hell up. That was totally an accident. An accident, I tell you. And Ryouta and Daiki were there too."

XXX

Tetsuya calmly let his gaze followed the movement of one Kagami Taiga in the court. The other teen hadn't realized he was there. And Tetsuya was content of letting that for now. Kagami's current level definitely won't reach even Kise's foot. The other teen lacked the finesse and experience. But Tetsuya knew, with challenges that they were bound to face, Kagami would grow, grow into the strong player he was born to be. A small grin reached his face. He was still feeling the pain of his previous teammates gave. But it was slowly dulling and he needed to keep going, after all. Even though the betrayal still clawed his heart painfully, the prospect of having Kagami in his court filled him with pleasant feeling. He didn't know why that was so, but if Kagami could restore what he had lost, then he was willing to let the redhead use him as he pleased.

After all, a Queen he was no longer. He had no valuable pieces in his current court to use.

"I don't know what your intention is, but…"

Kagami's voice broke him out of his stupor. Kuroko looked at Kagami in the eyes, who had realized that he was there.

The redhead grinned savagely, "I am willing to follow you."

Tetsuya blinked, "What are you saying?"

Kagami scowled, "Stop pretending to be stupid. I know a good player when I see one, except you but I know you have something in store for me. I don't care what would happen in the future, but if your ex-teammates are as strong as the guys in the club said, I am willing to do what you say. I know you would provide the best for me."

As Kagami's word sunk in, a slow smile was appeared on Tetsuya's face, "You really are precious. Exactly what I am looking for."

It was Kagami's turn to blink before a perplexed expression appeared on his face. Kuroko smiled and stepped out of the shadow. Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hand, Tetsuya dribbled it slowly, before shooting it and promptly missed. Kagami did not bother to comment anything as he continued to look at Tetsuya.

The teal haired teen turned to the taller player, "Yes, I promise that you'll be getting the best. But only if you agree to be my Knight in this new board."

His title as a Queen will be restored in no time if he has this beautiful and valuable piece known as Kagami Taiga in court.

A smirk appeared discreetly on his pale face, one that Kagami missed as the redhead obliviously agreed although he had no idea what the other was saying.

End chapter.

* * *

**A/N**: OMG so sorry for this. I said I wanted to wait until Teiko arc is done but I can't wait to write this down. I just sat down and did not realize until I have finished writing this. Q216 came out today and I just. My heart is breaking. That chapter is probably the most painful chapter I've ever read. *sobs* Teiko arc brings me so many precious materials for this. So there won't be any update until it's truly over.

Anyway, anyone knows the characters I used on this? Don't worry, none of them are my creation and they would not participate in basketball. And OMG I didn't know that an actual white haired character exists in KNB. I just saw the guy a few weeks after someone asked about him in review. And then I found a photo where all of them represent chess pieces! My heart couldn't take it. I feel like there are so many mistakes and yet I'm so excited.

And anyway, if there's anything you want to know about our hot Suzuran boys (for me, at least) feel free to ask. If you know which show they are from, please note that Izaki is mine.

Question: It's already clear who the Knight and King is. Can you guess who the remaining three are? I won't answer anytime soon. It'll be revealed as the story goes on.


	3. Chapter 3

Kise Ryouta's golden eyes followed the movements of the players at the court. The non-regulars were clearly trying to impress him, but the regulars seemed to have a grudge against him.

Moriyama-san was nice, on the first day, but the day after that, after he caught the sight of Kise trying to escape his horde of fangirls, the senior's attitude towards Kise turned 180 degrees.

Kobori-san, he's okay…probably.

Hayakawa…Kise didn't even know what to think of him. He yelled out the most trivial things out of nowhere and completely without warning. Plus, he always bumped into Kise in the process.

Kasamatsu-senpai…well, Kise was sure the senior hate him with passion.

"Kise! What are you doing there?! Get your ass here!" Kasamatsu yelled from the other side of the gym. Kise pouted and lazily trudged to where his captain was standing with their fat coach. He was aware of the eyes of the club members that were following him.

"Isn't it fine? It's just the second week after all. Can't I just watch or something? We didn't have to participate in practice if we don't want to at Teikou," the last part was muttered but Kasamatsu caught what he said and promptly smacked his junior upside down on the head.

"I don't care about what you did at Teikou but this is Kaijou, you damned brat! We are different from what you had at Teikou and as long as you're in this team, you are a part of it and you must give your all to contribute to the team's victory! And that's including practice until you're puking your guts out!"

Done lecturing his prodigious junior, Kasamatsu expected another pout or whine, but Kise's eyes suddenly turned sharper, and his body tensed.

"Every single time, someone always says that to me. I know what to do for the team, but I don't know how to work with this team, so isn't it fine if I practice on my own? We're going to win anyway, unless we're going against one of my old teammates. The Generation of Miracles is just untouchable for outsiders, so why work hard?"

The argument caught every club member's attention and now everyone had stopped practicing to watch their new ace stand up against their Spartan captain. Some of the seniors were annoyed by Kise's words, but the first years had a resigned look on their faces. After all, they saw and heard of Generation of Miracles' last match against Meikou.

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes. This damned brat from the so-called Generation of Miracles was so self-centered he would gladly ship him to somewhere in exchange for someone more sensible. But then again, he doubted if the Generation of Miracles was saner than one another. He was pretty sure that the other Miracles were just as bat-shit crazy. There was just one fine thin line between insanity and genius, after all.

But this freshman, Kise Ryouta was testing his patience, and he's reaching his limit. It wasn't even two full weeks yet, and Kise already made him wanted to throttle him more than he could count.

He wondered if it was okay to leave Kise locked inside the gym for one night to teach him a lesson. Wait, no, his coach would kill him for trying to give their precious ace cardiac arrest on the second week of school. Damn it.

"Kise." Oh great, now even their coach was fed up by Kise. That would be better for the team either way. Kasamatsu didn't want to lose so early in the game just because of a brat that he unwillingly had to babysit. "Is there somewhere you'd rather be at?"

"Yes, Kise, is there- what?!" Kasamatsu turned an accusing glare at their coach.

Takeuchi ignored Kasamatsu and had his attention on Kise instead. Kise answered, "Of course. I told you, didn't I?"

"Then why are you here?" Takeuchi pressed.

"Because Akashicchii said it'd be too boring if we go to the same school. We split so we'll have more challenge. Anyone outside of Generation of Miracles is irrelevant."

"What the- Coach!" Kasamatsu really, really hated being looked down on. His pride as a captain was bruised by Kise over and over and there's no way in hell he will let this arrogant bastard to get away this time.

Takeuchi once again ignored Kasamatsu's outburst, "Is there someone you want to beat among your own ex-teammates more than anyone?"

Kise's eyes narrowed, "There's two of them that I respect more than anyone in this world. I want to beat them, so I can move on. I don't want to be their mere shadow. I want to be the light that outshone the shadow."

The coach had a thin smile on his face, "Do you think you can beat them with your current level?"

The golden haired teen blinked, before answered hesitantly, "N-no…. Anyway, why are you asking this?"

Takeuchi turned around and walked away while waving a hand dismissively, "Then I suggest you start practicing with the others. If there's one weakness amongst you geniuses, it would be your lack of experience in teamwork. Also, listen to Kasamatsu or I'll kick you out of the team. You might be the strongest in Kaijou now, but we don't need a selfish brat that would distort the team's harmony, make us lose and humiliates us. Understood?"

A stunned silence filled the gym as Takeuchi disappeared from their sight behind the door. Kise had a dumbstruck look on his face, as if in disbelief that their ignorant coach had just reprimanded him and coolly at that.

Kasamatsu was in the same state. But a delight and evil grin replaced it not a second later. He turned to his junior, but the grin vanished in a flash as Kise had a glare transfixed on him.

"_It's your fault for being so weak!" _

The junior walked away in disgust. Kasamatsu didn't realize he was trembling, until Kobori and Moriyama whispered comforting words to him.

"Do we need him?" Moriyama asked solemnly.

Kasamatsu took in a deep breath shakily, "I don't know. I want to win, but I don't think we can last with him."

"He brought up an old scar. It's time to show him his place," Kobori, quiet gentle Kobori, whispered of murder.

Kasamatsu didn't realize he had tears in his eyes since Kise walked away which made Kobori furious.

XXX

"What…is this?" Kise came to practice the next day, looking completely guiltless, and was met with a surprise.

"Our next opponent," Takeuchi answered as he moved around to order the other first years to prepare the gym for their first practice game that semester.

"Seirin…" Kise whispered. His golden eyes glinted akin to something…wild.

"Kise?" Takeuchi looked at him questioningly.

"Coach…do you know something peculiar about this team?" Kise raised the paper.

The coach raised an eyebrow, "Well…aside from their outstanding result last year as their first time participation in Inter-High and having only first years in the team, I don't think they're anything noteworthy."

"You know coach...we really need someone like Momoicchii in the team."

"What?" Takeuchi was completely clueless as to what Kise was trying to say.

"I'm saying; there's someone dangerous in Seirin. He's probably more threatening than Akashicchii. How can you not know that?"

"What?!"

XXX

One week prior, at Seirin.

"What….?" Kagami twitched.

"We're not allowed to play in games yet," Kuroko recited slowly, almost mockingly but it was hard to tell with his toneless voice and face.

"I heard you! But why?! Weren't our display today enough?!" Kagami whispered harshly, but some customers in Maji Burger still turned to their direction, looking skeptical at the crazy teen who was talking to himself.

Kuroko slurped his milkshake solemnly. He knew he didn't make any mistake in choosing Seirin. But maybe it was harder than he thought. If he can't play in Seirin…he'll have to transfer to Suzuran and that would not be pleasant because there's Izaki, Tokio and worst, Serizawa. The baby blue haired teen slumped. The depressed aura he emitted somehow made him a bit visible.

"O-oi, you okay?" Kagami asked him warily.

"Anyway," Kuroko looked back at him, "We need to do something. We can't afford to be left behind. We need to play as soon as we can. Or Seirin will be out of the tournament before we can say dunk."

XXX

"We're out!" Riko's scream of horror alerted Kagami and Kuroko and the two were immediately at Riko's sides in a flash.

"Did we lose? To who?" Kagami asked, his red eyes flashing dangerously.

Hyuuga grabbed the paper in Riko's hand and answered solemnly, "Boom Boom Chicada. Damn, I knew they were tough."

The first years, including Kagami and Kuroko, stared at their captain.

"Pardon, captain, but what…?" Furihata asked hesitantly.

"Anyway, we don't have time to dwell on this unfortunate defeat. We have a practice match against Kaijou coming up next week," Riko announced as the second years moaned in despair.

"Why did you choose Kaijou of all team, you demon?! Do you want this team to lose motivation so early in the season?!" Hyuuga asked rhetorically beside Koganei and Izuki who had fat tears running down their cheeks.

"What are you saying? This is just a warm up. Also they have one of the Miracles. It's a given that our first match is against them."

"This team is doomed," Tsuchida palmed his face. The first years agreed silently.

"Coach," Kuroko called out. The girl turned to him in question. "What do we have to do so we can play in games?"

Kuroko's question caught their attention. Riko raised an eyebrow, before giving an evil grin that made the second years watched their juniors in pity. "It's reaaaaaally easy. All you have to do…"

XXX

"Tell me why we didn't go to a different club again," Kagami asked.

"Because we're basketball idiots," Kuroko answered resignedly.

"I second that," Kawahara admitted. After all, that was the truth. Riko grinned evilly at the despair look on the first years. So far, five had scrambled, leaving Kuroko, Kagami, Kawahara, Fukuda and Furihata. Well, these kids had balls more than the others, at least.

"Alright, first years, do you know what I told your senpai last year?" She stood in front of them firmly. "I told them that I want someone who has a goal for joining the team. We don't need a half-hearted member, even only for warming the bench. Accidents happen and I don't want to send out a weakling. I want someone with strong mentality who can withstand the pressure of having the team's hope on him. Do you understand? That's why, today, I want you all to scream out your goal to everyone there on the assembly! If you can't, I'll have you strip naked and confess to your beloved person."

XXX

At the same time, practice in Touou's gym was unusually quiet. Maybe the reason was due to their ace from Generation of Miracles was present. His presence alone in the gym not only made the lesser players self-conscious of their capability being judged, but Aomine's participation in mock games made it worse. The tanned teen hardly looked like he had done any training since he just laid there on the podium.

"Aomine, do you have a reason to be here today?" Imayoshi asked his junior.

The tanned teen grunted and yawned before answering, "Satsuki threatened me with her cooking. I don't know what she wants but I don't want to die yet."

"Hm? What's wrong with Momoi's cooking?" Imayoshi asked skeptically, his closed eyes seemed to frown.

Aomine choked on thin air, spluttering, "Her cooking is the worst shit ever."

"_Momoi, what is this?" Akashi asked, his eyebrows twitching slightly._

_Momoi smiled obliviously, "Honey lemon, of course!"_

_The regulars looked down at the unsliced lemons, swimming mockingly at them in the overload honey._

"_Nijimura-senpai!" the Miracles called out, unable to swallow their pride and eat __**that**__._

"_I brought it."_

"AOMINE-KUN!" Momoi burst into the gym.

"He's there!" the basketball club members chorused, their heads swiveled to where Aomine was.

The peach haired girl ran to him, unusually cheerful seeing Aomine. "I found him~"

The club members stared at her, a bit uncomfortable seeing their level-headed and sometimes sinister manager acting like a love-struck girl.

"Found who?" Aomine asked, seemingly not interested.

"Tetsu-kun of course~ Who else I would be talking about~? He's as handsome as I remember him~"

Aomine sat up with a start, startling his teammates. The tanned teen turned to Momoi, his eyes wild, though this time without menace. Wakamatsu, Sakurai and Imayoshi stared at their ace with shock, first time seeing this other side of the laidback teen. Aomine's usual scowl or sinister expression was gone, replaced by the look of a lost child.

"Where is he?" Aomine approached his childhood friend.

Momoi smirked, scheming something that made Imayoshi raise an amused eyebrow. "Why would you want to know? Tetsu-kun doesn't want to see you right now."

"Dammit Satsuki, I don't care what he wants! Tell me!" Aomine bellowed.

Momoi's smirk turned into a frown, "You won't like it if I told you. He has a new piece. Are you sure you want to see him now? He'd probably just ignore you, anyway. Why don't we wait until we meet in a match? That would be better, and you can show that rookie just how powerful the Knight of the Queen is."

Aomine stared at her, stunned. Silence engulfed the gym, the club members not knowing what the two were talking about.

Imayoshi adjusted his glasses; amusement filled his mind at the scene. He'd heard about the monikers each of the Generation of Miracles had attained since their middle school years. However, it was the first time he heard about this 'Tetsu-kun', not to mention Momoi had just implied that the Knight belonged to the Queen, not the King. This should be interesting. As far as he knew, there was no Queen in the Generation of Miracles.

"What the fuck, Satsuki? I told you I don't care about that! I want to see him!" Aomine seemed to be not willing to back down.

Momoi narrowed her eyes, "Aomine-kun, stop lying. We both know that you will challenge the poor boy the instant you lay your eyes on him. I won't let you interfere with Tetsu-kun's plan."

Aomine deflated a bit at that, eyes staring into Momoi's in wariness, "What's he planning? What's he going to do?"

The manager's smirk returned. This time, it seemed to be sinister enough to make Sakurai hide behind Wakamatsu in fear, "My loyalty lies with the Queen. I won't tell you anything, but I won't hold back when we meet in a match. Tetsu-kun won't let me do that."

The tanned ace scowled, before turning back to pick a basketball. Dribbling, he charged and dunked the ball into the hoop, the sound echoing in the gym. When he raised his head and turned around to face the rest of them, a shiver of both excitement and fear ran down Imayoshi's spine at the animalistic look on Aomine's face.

"Let him come. I want to see what's so good about that piece of shit."

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End chapter.

**A/N**: Uh, hey, I promised right? Actually I didn't even remember that promise but I wrote this yesterday and had it beta-ed. Sorry for the lack of evil-Kuroko and Haizaki. We'll have more tension and serious moments in the next chapter. You can say this is just filler. Besides, the first part of this chapter is an important point for Kaijou vs Seirin match. So bear with me for a while. I need to update His. For my loyal readers of His, I am so sorry for the lack of update. I'm slowly getting my muse back and I'll try hard to write the next chapter.

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黒子のバスケ © Fujimaki Tadatoshi

Edited version © LenXKagamine12234


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